Thematic interviews
Written by: Jingjing He
2020-02-28 12:57
Last updated: 2020-02-28 12:58Talking about the epidemic situation, Zhou Yue had a lot of feelings. During the SARS attack in Hong Kong in 2003, he was the director of Hong Kong Island West Network. He watched his colleagues become infected every day and felt "a sense of crisis." After SARS, he was promoted to Secretary of Food and Health. One of his first tasks was to reform the medical system to prevent the next major SARS-like outbreak.
By the time the new crown epidemic had hit this year, the "former marshal" of the Hong Kong medical profession had left the medical system and joined the insurance industry. What a pity? He said that he has a mentality of being a doctor all his life. Whether he is in the medical administration or joining the insurance industry, he hopes to "heal the system", but he just changed his position to help patients solve problems.
Zhou Yue loved work, retired four times, and returned to work. (Photo by Li Zetong)
Zhou Yueyue was born in 1947 and has more than 70 years of age. He is a "veteran" in the medical profession. At the end of last year, Zheng Ruoyi's wrist dislocation was performed in London for open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) surgery. Introduced to Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to his medical skills, he also has a hand in management and administration. Since 1992, he has been the executive director of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. He has gradually advanced, and in 2004 he replaced Yang Yongqiang as the director of the Food and Health Bureau. Until stepping down in 2012, Zhou Yue has been at the helm of the Hong Kong medical system for the next 20 years.
After the veteran did not die, Zhou Yuewei resigned after resigning as director. He smiled and said that he is a person who likes to work, retired four times before and after, and wanted to work again every three months or so. In addition to the more familiar EOC opportunity, in 2017, he was also invited to AIA as the chief medical officer and corporate consultant of Hong Kong and Macau, specializing in medical insurance projects.
"I have always been concerned about the long-term funding of medical treatment. I already said that it was a problem 20 or 30 years ago ... The money of a society cannot be unlimited. To improve the level of medical treatment, we must have money to hire people and apply new technology. How to balance this thing? Different medical systems in the world as a whole need a similar insurance system to succeed, "he said.
Former Director of Food and Health Bureau Zhou Yuejiao fights the epidemic and urges Hong Kong people to help society rebuild the glory of the past
A lifetime of doctors
It has been a few days since he left the front line of medical treatment, but Zhou Yue pointed out that he is a doctor with a mentality and wants to help patients solve problems. His work at AIA is also indirectly helping patients. "I think of a system that makes it easier for patients to get treatment. I also want to be a matchmaker, introduce more patients than good doctors, and introduce more good doctors than patients."
"Private doctors or the insurance industry may not take care of as many patients as the HA, but if these patients do not have insurance, they may end up going to the HA if they are sick, making the HA more crowded and longer." He pointed out that since these people are willing to give some money to buy insurance or use private medical services, can insurance companies make the most of these resources? Private medical care is always more expensive. A good insurance system is to hope that through sustainable contributions, people will have sufficient protection and a sense of security. Among them transparency is very important.
He described the three years in AIA as "somewhat successful". Firstly, the increase in premiums was reasonable, and secondly, he established mutual trust with many private hospitals and doctors, reducing disputes over how much different surgery guarantees, and more important for customers There is transparency.
Dr. Zhou pointed out that one of the important changes in the past three years was that compensation was paid for hospitalization before surgery. Up to now, day surgery (such as gastroscopy) will be compensated, giving patients more choices for surgery. This successful experience also prompted AIA and Ren'an Hospital to cooperate last year to set up the "You'an Medical Gastroenterology and Specialty Center", which mainly performs gastrointestinal endoscopy. He pointed out that the center employs very professional doctors and employees, and is confident that it will become the first batch of institutions registered by the government's private medical institution regulations to bring high-quality one-stop services to AIA customers.
Zhou Yue pointed out that when he joined the insurance company, he just switched jobs and continued to help patients. (Photo by Li Zetong)
Public-private medical imbalances need to prepare for themselves
In the same sentence, Zhou Yue talked about the medical system the most. He described that public medical care in Hong Kong is a safety net, but society has used it too much and there has been a public-private imbalance. A better division of labor is that the public medical system is mainly responsible for medical emergencies and high-risk "strange diseases", training medical staff, and taking care of vulnerable groups that cannot afford private medical care. In other cases, private health care can play a more important role.
He said that Hong Kong people are very long-lived. The life expectancy of men is 83 years old, and the life expectancy of women is about 88 years old. That is, if they retire at 60, there may be no income for more than 20 years. If there is no child support, If you do not have any protection for yourself, you may be very distressed.
"I'm not a salesman. I won't say that I must buy insurance, but I think everyone needs future considerations. Of course, the government has a welfare system, but they are all limited. I have enough savings and preparations. Important. "Zhou Yue said.
Zhou Yueyou